Police blitz reveals too many risk takers on south-west roads

MORE than 170 drivers in Warrnambool were nabbed doing between 10 to 25km/h over the speed limit during a two-month blitz.

As part of the Summer Stay road enforcement campaign, police picked up 11 road users for speeding more than 25km/h over the speed limit and 60 were caught at 10km/h or under in the Warrnambool police service area.

Acting Sergeant Deane Owen, from Warrnambool highway patrol, said road users needed to think of their own safety as well as others.

“Think of your family,” he said.

“People just don’t think something will go wrong. But kids will have to grow up without a mother or a father.”

Warrnambool police conducted 10,203 preliminary breath tests during the campaign, while in the Southern Grampians, 13,124 were conducted.

In the Southern Grampians police service area, 214 people were caught driving 10-25km/h over the speed limit, 96 clocked breaking the limit by under 10km/h and 32 were caught at more than 25km/h above. There were 43 nabbed for unregistered vehicles, 31 for mobile phone offences and two impoundments.

The Warrnambool police service area takes in the municipalities of Moyne Shire, Corangamite Shire and Warrnambool City Council.

Acting Sergeant Owen said over the Christmas period people were still using their mobile phones while driving, travelling too fast and failing to plan their journey.

“Take more time and plan your trip,” he said.

“They aren’t taking enough time and then getting in the car and just going. Then fatigue increases, they speed and wander on the road.

“We want people to slow down and avoid driver distraction.

“You don’t have to answer the phone when it rings. You can call it back or pull over.”

Across the state police detected more than 79,000 traffic offences. The campaign began on November 15 and ended on Monday, January 6.

Superintendent Neville Taylor, of Road Policing Command, said while it was encouraging to see a reduction in the number of drink-driving offences, it was disappointing that some people continued to take unacceptable risks.

“In 52 days we have caught more than 27,000 people speeding on our roads,” he said.

“That’s completely unacceptable and it’s incredibly disappointing to find that there are still people in our community who are taking huge risks on the road, endangering their own lives and the lives of others.

“Speed is a killer and is a major factor in about a third of collisions each year.

“Low-level speeding can be just as dangerous as high-level speeding and research shows that your risk of being involved in a collision doubles for every 5km/h over the speed limit you are in a 60km/h zone.”

Acting Sergeant Owen said over the Christmas period people were still using their mobile phones while driving, travelling too fast and failing to plan their journey.